


Deliver Me

by magneato



Category: X-Men: First Class (2011) - Fandom
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Erik/Charles if you squint - Freeform, Gen, Kid Fic, The Prince of Egypt, fluffy fluffy fluff fluff
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-11-07
Updated: 2013-11-07
Packaged: 2017-12-31 18:21:03
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 928
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1034895
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/magneato/pseuds/magneato
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Modern AU: Erik is a single father</p><p>Erik thought allowing Wanda, Pietro, and Lorna to watch The Prince of Egypt around Passover would be a good idea.  He's realizing he has made a terrible mistake .</p>
            </blockquote>





	Deliver Me

**Author's Note:**

> Beta'd by my darling tumblr user threepipeproblems <3

The day had gotten off to a terrible start.  Lorna had been up since before sunrise and to top it all off Raven had called that morning canceling her usual babysitting job owing to a stomach flu.

“I can watch us Papa,” Wanda had suggested hopefully, eyes glued to the television screen, watching Ramses and Moses race their horses, “I’m seven and a half now.”      

Whether it was a sign of how much he wanted to see Charles or how much he needed to escape _The Prince of Egypt_ he wasn’t sure, but he had found himself agreeing to leave Wanda in charge.

So Erik slumped into the diner booth across from Charles on Saturday afternoon looking tired and agitated, and ordered “The strongest coffee you have, please.”

Charles couldn’t help the hint of concern that slipped into his tone as he asked “Is everything alright, Erik?” He was certain the _frustrated- distressed-overwhelmed_  undercurrent tingeing the man’s thoughts hadn’t been this pronounced at lunch yesterday.

Erik huffed out a sigh, his face taking on an expression of exasperation. ”I’m at my wits end, Charles. I haven’t any idea what to do.”

Charles was truly concerned now. ”What’s the matter, my friend?” he asked anxiously. ”Has- has something happened?”

“ _The Prince of Egypt_ happened” Erik exclaimed. ”I thought it would be educational; an opportunity for the children to learn about their heritage and understand the importance of Passover. But it’s turned into an absolute nightmar- why are you laughing?”

“I’m sorry,” Charles apologized between bouts of laughter, “I just thought your concern was directed at something a tad more serious than a children’s cartoon.”

“This is serious, Charles! It’s been four days of non-stop singing. I come home and its endless hours of “lai-la-lai” or “once I called you brother”. I even caught myself humming it at work yesterday! I can hardly think. I thought their excitement would wind down, but they’ve asked to watch it again tonight. That’ll be the eighth time this week!”

Charles eyebrows rose in surprise, but he smiled sympathetically and said “They’re just children, Erik. I’m sure they’ll grow bored of it soon enough.”

Erik left lunch with Charles an hour later feeling considerably calmer (Charles tended to have that effect on him) and determined to not spoil his children’s fun. _“It’ll only be for a few more days”_ he told himself as he headed home _“then they’ll get tired of it. Besides, it’s a good thing they’re excited about their faith.”_

That was before he opened the door to discover his seven year old daughter wearing his bathrobe and standing atop the back of the couch holding up a giggling Lorna wrapped in a gray blanket in a manner that suggested the baby was meant to represent the Ten Commandments.

“What on Earth is going on here” he demanded.

Wanda spun around, startled, blue eyes going wide and guilty.

“I’m Moses on Mount Sinai” Wanda explained quickly. Lorna happily babbled “pahhhhh” from her place in Wanda’s arms.

Erik took a deep breath, stopped the metal fireplace grate from rattling, and forced himself to be calm. “Wanda, put your sister down, please.”

She nodded, hopping down onto the couch cushion and setting Lorna down gently. That was when he noticed the living room floor was covered in blankets.

“What the-“

“It’s the Red Sea, Papa” said Wanda happily. “I was parting it so the Israelites could escape.” She pointed to a trail of stuffed animals making their way across the living room floor.

Erik huffed out a resigned laugh. As an engineer he had to dole out points for creativity. He walked over to the couch, placing a kiss atop Wanda’s head. ”Just clean it up when you’re done, motek.”

He scooped up a still gurgling Lorna and headed to the kitchen to make some more much needed coffee.

“Uh, Papa before you go in there-“, but Wanda was interrupted by Pietro dashing out of the kitchen wearing a paper towel roll Pharaoh’s headdress. “We’re out of paper towels” Pietro informed him, zooming around his legs.

“And strawberry Jell-o” Wanda added quietly, pointing to the stripes of red smeared across the door frames of the three bedrooms down the hall.

That was when Erik decided there were far, far worse things than catchy cartoon songs. “You had best clean that up or the Pharaoh won’t be the only tyrant terrorizing Hebrew children.”

That night, after an evening spent scrubbing door frames and four recitations of “Deliver Us”, Erik crawled into bed exhausted and thoroughly sick of strawberry Jell-o. He was just drifting off to sleep when the baby monitor crackled to life. Resigning himself to yet another sleepless night in what was turning out to be a sleepless week, he hoisted himself out of bed and was just reaching the door when he felt the hinge in twins’ room creak, followed by the pitter-patter sound of bare feet on hardwood. Opening his door silently he padded across the hall, pushed the baby’s room open a crack, and peaked inside. Wanda was sitting in the rocking chair, feet tucked under her, hand stroking her sister’s hair soothingly through the wooden bars of the crib. From the doorway he could hear her singing softly “Hush now, my baby/ be still, love, don’t cry/ sleep as you’re rocked by the stream/ sleep and remember my last lullaby/ so I’ll be with you when you dream”. Lorna yawned, eyes fluttering shut.

 _“Maybe”_ Erik thought with a smile _“just maybe, The Prince of Egypt isn’t that bad after all.”_

**Author's Note:**

> \- Motek means sweetie in Hebrew


End file.
